


Going Soft

by ohmypotter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gryffindor, Harry Potter Next Generation, Hufflepuff, Original Character(s), Ravenclaw, Romance, Scorbus (Minor), Slytherin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-03-28 00:21:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13892256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmypotter/pseuds/ohmypotter
Summary: In which James Sirius Potter begins to fall for a lovely girl, but is afraid of his friends thinking that he's "going soft."





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Super excited to write this! Let me know what you think :)   
> Updates every Tuesday

James Sirius Potter broke up with his first girlfriend because she made fun of Albus and Scorpius for possibly being gay, and called them faggots.

But he would never tell anyone that.

James Sirius Potter secretly hexed the bullies of Albus and Lily in the hallways, because he hates the thought of his siblings being tormented.

But he would never say it was him.

James Sirius Potter cried himself to sleep after his second girlfriend broke up with him, because he had believed he loved her.

But he would never tell a soul.

Because James Sirius Potter had a reputation to uphold. The one of a tough, sarcastic, suave, playboy. One who didn't really give a crap, one who was oozing confidence. The popular son of Harry Potter, a Gryffindor.

Going soft was never a part of James Sirius Potter's plan. But that all seemed to fall apart when he met her.


	2. Herbology

It was a bright, Tuesday morning, and James had just finished eating, and was leaving the Great Hall.

"Oi mate, what do you say we skip Herbology?" His friend Charlie suggested, as he elbowed him in the hallway.

"Ah you know I can't, Professor Longbottom would tell my dad and he would have a fit." James replied, feigning annoyance.

"Aw come on man, don't be a sissy." Charlie protested.

James frowned inwardly. He didn't want to be called a sissy, but he also didn't want to skip Herbology. He didn't mind the class, and didn't want to be scolded by his parents when they found out. He desperately tried to think of another excuse, when a voice spoke up.

"You sure you aren't the sissy, mate?" A passing Ravenclaw spoke up. "Maybe you're just secretly scared of the Venomous Tentacula we're working with today and you just want to get out of it." She suggested, before she continued on her way.

Charlie started spluttering, trying to defend himself but the girl had left him speechless. "W-well I don't even know who you are so, your opinion doesn't matter!" He called down the hall.

James heard her laughter bubble out of her and for some reason, he found himself laughing with her.

"Oi, what are you laughing at mate? You're right stupid too." She jested. "But my name, is Annabella White."

"Nice to meet you, I'm James Potter."

Annabella looked him up and down, with a bored expression. "I know." She said, turning on her heel, and walking towards Herbology.

"Hot damn." Charlie said.

"Shut up." James replied.

"Dude, you _so_ gotta get in her pants." Charlie said.

James rolled his eyes. "Okay Charlie, whatever." He often found Charlie immature when he said things like that.

"I'm being serious mate! You could charm the pants off of her."

"Did we just meet the same person? You're kidding, right?"

"Nah mate, you can do it."

"Why don't you go do that."

"Cause she's outta my league! But she's not outta yours, you're a smashing lad."

"That's a bit gay, mate." James joked.

"Albus would know." Charlie quipped.

James's expression momentarily turned sour, he despised it when his friends joked about that.

"Come off it, I don't know what you mean." James defended.

"Right, okay. Sure you do. Albus and Scorpius-that blasted son of Voldemort-are all heart eyes for each other. It's disgusting. And not in the cute way." Charlie sneered. "I'd be ashamed he was my brother if I were you."

James felt his fingers twitch into a fist, but he said nothing, desperately trying to think of something to change the subject.

They entered the greenhouse for Herbology and James had yet to defend his brother. He felt bad, he really did. But he couldn't just stand up the Charlie like that, he would lose all of his friends.

James spotted the brunette girl regarding them with a harsh expression, and he offered her a smile to which she frowned at, and turned the other way.

Has she heard Charlie and assumed James agreed with him, because he hadn't said anything?

James didn't have much time to think about that, as Professor Longbottom cleared his throat from the front of the room.

"Hello everyone. As you know, today we're working with the Venomous Tentacula. We are going to be observing them, feeding them and gather the carapaces they spit out, and collecting some of their leaves. I'm going to partner you up, your partner will be from the other house." He informed them, and proceeded to read the partnered names off of his list.

"Noah Jones and Natalie Thomas-Finnigan." Neville announced.

James's friend, who was standing next to Charlie, sneered. "Gross guys, I'm with the queer."

James frowned at Noah. "Mate, that's Grant's sister, shut up."

"So?" Noah questioned. "Grant's lucky we don't label him a queer too. His twin and his dads are."

James clamped his mouth shut, he wasn't going to get into an argument right now. He stole a glance over at Grant, and felt relieved when he saw the boy obviously hadn't overheard anything.

Noah huffed and walked over to Natalie, who smiled brightly and greeted him, as he rolled his eyes and said nothing. Her expression fell slightly.

Neville read a few more names before getting to the last two.

"Charlie McLaggen and Sophia Keener."

"And James Potter and Annabella White. That's all now, you may start."

Charlie sent a wink to James when he heard who he was partnered with, and James felt his cheeks flame slightly and he dipped his head to the ground.

"Shut up mate." He muttered.

James looked over to Annabella who nodded her head towards an untaken plant and James trudged over to her.

"Not looking forward to working with the plant, are you?" She questioned as they stood a safe distance back from it.

"Not really. I suspect you aren't either?" He responded.

Annabella shrugged. "I don't mind it. I think it could be fun, really." She said with a slight smile. "Though maybe it would be better if I was partnered with someone else." She added.

James furrowed his brow. "What do you mean by that?"

"You're a bit of a dick sometimes, aren't you? Your friends are more, but still." She said.

"Give me one example of me being a dick." James protested. "You can't."

"Hmm, how about ten minutes ago when you were talking about your brother absolutely horridly?" She suggested.

James bit the inside of his cheek. "I technically didn't say anything."

"I'm aware, but you didn't defend him either." She argued.

"Well-there really was nothing to defend though, was there? I mean, I assume you've seen them." James protested weakly.

"What, you couldn't defend the gay part cause you think it's true, or the part where it's disgusting and you're ashamed he's you're brother?" She snarked.

"No!" James said rather loudly. "I have no problem with that and the fact that he's my brother. I meant the gay part."

"Well, then it seems you could have defended the latter if that's not how you think." She said.

James sighed. "Let's just get our observations done, okay? Then we can feed it and gather its leaves."

Annabella nodded reluctantly.

James pulled out a piece of parchment and started scribbling down some notes.

 _-Giant_  
- _Eyeless_  
- _Fangs_  
- _Green_  
- _Lots of leaves_  
- _Vines_  
- _Venomous_  
- _Moves and likes to grab people_  
- _Pretty_ _damn_ _cool_  
- _Scary_

James finished taking his notes a little before Annabella did, although he noticed she wrote a lot more than him. He watched as she pulled a hairband off her wrist and tied her hair up to keep it off her face.

"Well, are you ready?" She asked, turning towards him.

James nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"I say one of us feeds it first to distract it, as the other gathers some leaves." She suggested.

"That's a smart idea." James complimented.

"I know." She said, and James rolled his eyes. "You can feed them."

"What? You don't like the Chizpurfles?" James teased.

"No, I just know that you'd probably wet your pants if you get snagged while grabbing leaves, so better to have you distract it with food as a peace offering." She quipped.

James rolled his eyes, and grabbed a couple of dead Chizpurfles from the table near them.

"Don't forgot to collect the carapaces when the plant spits them out." She reminded, rather annoyingly.

"Yeah, I know." James informed her.

James stepped closer to the plant, holding one of the small creatures in his hand out. "Here planty planty," he called and Annabella gave him a weird look. "I have some food for you, please don't eat me." He said as she crept closer to it also.

The plant turned its mouth towards him and opened it, eagerly awaiting the food. James tossed one creature into its mouth and soon enough, the plant opened it for more after it spit out a carapace that James had to dodge.

As James was feeding the plant, Annabella was plucking leaves from the plant and placing it in the bag they were supposed to unnoticed to it.

But then it did notice her, and one if its vines seized her from behind right as James fed it the last Chizpurfle.

She shrieked and James yelled " _diffindo_!" Which effectively cut the arm of it off, and Annabella dropped back to the floor on her feet.

Her cheeks were flushed pink from embarrassment and the look on her face was rather cross.

"I could have handled that myself." She muttered, and James snorted.

"Sure you could've. Right after you finished shrieking, of course." He replied.

Annabella glared at him. "I was getting ready to do the spell."

"Oh, I'm sure you were, Bella." James assured her sarcastically.

"Do not call me Bella. It's Annabella to you." She sneered.

"Whatever you say, Bella." James said.

"James, I swear to god-" she began as Professor Longbottom walked over to them.

"Is everything okay here?" Neville questioned them.

"Yes Professor Longbottom." They both replied in unison. Annabella handed them the small pouch of leaves.

"And the carapaces?" He asked James.

James gathered them from where he dropped them on the ground and slid them into the second small pouch, and handed that to the Professor as well.

"Thank you, good work here today. Though, as you are each other's partner for the rest of the year, I will be expecting less arguing." He said, right before he walked away.

"Oh Merlin," Annabella cried. "Not for the rest of the _year_."

James frowned. He was no longer looking forward to Herbology, anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! remember to leave comments or kudos :)


	3. Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy !!

In the dorm, James looked over to Charlie as the slightly shorter boy cleared his throat.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"You never did say, how was working with Annabella?" Charlie asked, waggling his eyebrows.

James rolled his eyes. "She's annoying as bloody hell. All " _I'm so smart_ " and self righteous and shit." He complained.

Charlie frowned. "Damnit. She's too bloody attractive for that! Are you sure?"

"Very." James stated.

Charlie sighed, and slumped back in his bed. "Whyyyy." He whined, just as Noah walked in.

"Why what?" Noah asked his friend.

"Why did Annabella have to be unbearably annoying!?" Charlie pouted.

"...Why does it matter?" Noah asked, clearly not getting it.

Charlie sat up and seized his friend's shoulders, pulling him down to sit next to him. He shook him as if somehow that would get his point across.

"Because she's hot, mate!" Charlie exclaimed. "Have you seen her? Is your vision alright?" He joked, peering into Noah's eyes.

Noah's cheeks flushed slightly and he pushed Charlie away.

"Course my vision is fine. I guess I just don't really see anything in her?" Noah shrugged.

Charlie laughed, and shook his curly head of blond hair. "Sure you don't, it's okay to admit it. James and I both agree that anyone who doesn't find her attractive is probably a closeted queer."

James frowned. "I actually never agreed to that."

"Well you must've thought it." Charlie said.

James decided to just shrug and say nothing.

Noah's face flushed again and he defended himself. "Come off it, I'm not queer! Just saying...guess I just prefer blondes." The boy mumbled.

"Whatever mate." Charlie quipped, and Noah smiled at his friend.

James rolled his eyes at his two friends. Sometimes, they could be dicks, like Annabella said. But sometimes, they could be alright too.

"Now come on you two, shut up. I've got loads of homework to get started on." James ordered playfully, but with a serious undertone.

Just as James finished what he was saying, Grant walked into the dorm.

"You haven't started yet? James, I expected better of you." Grant tutted.

"Hey, I was too busy being awesome." James said and shrugged—in a cool way.

Grant rolled his eyes and Charlie groaned.

"Please, _never_ say that again." Both of them begged.

James sighed. "Yeah, I won't. I cringed at myself as I said that."

~~~

Not long after that, the boys decided they did enough homework and started to make their way down to the Great Hall, as their stomachs were beginning to rumble.

James was walking backwards, talking to his friends about something Lily did over the summer, when he stumbled into someone.

He tripped, and fell on his arse, as the smaller body tripped forwards and spilled books and papers all over the floor.

James's eyes widened in surprise as his friends began laughing at him. He looked over to see a girl quickly gathering her books.

"Holy crap, I'm sorry, do you want me to help you with that?" He asked.

The girl huffed and turned towards him. "No James, I'm fine." She snarked, annoyed.

James cursed inwardly, it was Annabella.

"You sure, _Bella_?" He taunted.

"Yes. I'm also sure that if you call me Bella one more time that I'll hex you into tomorrow." She replied as she finished gathering her books from the floor.

"Sorry Bella." He apologized with mock sincerity. "I won't do it again."

Her eyes flashed as she whipped her wand out and held it at his throat.

" _Say_ _it_ _again_." She hissed. "I dare you."

James gulped.

"Woah woah woah there Bella. Calm down, everything's okay here." Grant assured her, and delicately pushed her wand away from James's throat.

Annabella frowned. "Sorry, you're right."

"Wait—he gets to call you Bella but I can't?!" James exclaimed.

Annabella rolled her eyes. "This idiot is my friend's twin, so he's kinda my friend by default."

"So I'm getting that you only let your friends call you that."

"Pretty much."

"Guess I'll have to become your friend then."

"No thanks."

"You sure?" James questioned.

"Hmm, let me think about that....yep. Still sure." She replied, and whirled around, walking down the hallway.

James looked at Grant, bewildered.

Grant shrugged. "She's a bit rough around the edges."

"No kidding." Noah snorted.

James sighed. "Come on, let's go get some dinner..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Remember, kudos and comments are very appreciated :)


	4. Annabella

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabella’s pov

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry I missed last weeks update!

Annabella was sitting by the lake with her friends, and a soft breeze blowing through the air was ruffling her hair slightly.

Her friend Olivia cleared her throat to get Annabella's attention. She turned to see Olivia looking up at her from where her head was resting on Natalie's lap.

"Yeah?" Annabella asked her friend. "What's up?"

"So what's going on with that James guy. The Potter." She questioned, with a smirk on her face. "And what does Tommy think about all of this?"

Natalie tugged on Olivia's short strands of blonde hair. "Mind your own business." She whispered.

Annabella rolled her eyes. "Absolutely nothing, Via. He's a right prick." She paused. "What do you mean what does Tommy think of it? Why would he care?" She asked, confused.

Via pursed her lips, in thought. "To the first thing you said, his friends definitely are, yes. But he doesn't seem like much of one." She said, and a grin stretched across her face. "And as for why Tommy would care about it—" She began and was cut off.

Natalie gave Olivia a warning look. "Don't go there," she said, and Olivia pouted.

"Fine." She relented.

"If the people he hangs around are, he is too." Annabella replied, ignoring the subject of Tommy, because she had no idea what her friends were going on about and she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"He seems nice though." Natalie spoke up, defending him. "I've seen him with Albus and Lily, he's such a sweet older brother."

"And I'm sure he is, until his friends call Albus a fag behind the poor kid's back and James does nothing to defend him." Annabelle fired.

Natalie raised her eyebrows and Via sat up. "Oh seriously? That's not cool." Natalie frowned. "Did you hear that firsthand?"

Bella nodded. "Yeah, I did. On the way to Herbology a couple days ago."

"They don't ever say anything to Grant like that, do they?" She questioned, probably concerned for her twin brother. "I mean, if they can call their friend's brother a fag, couldn't they do the same to Grant, because of our dads? Or even because of me and Via?" She explained. "I mean if they did that to him or he knew they were like that, he wouldn't still hang around them, would he?"

"As far as I'm aware they keep the homophobic comments to a minimum when Grant's around. He might not even know they're like that." Bella assured her.

Natalie nodded, still frowning, and Via put her arm around her shoulder.

"Nat, look at me." Via said quietly, and Natalie looked up at her girlfriend.

"Don't think for a second that your brother would hang around those pricks if they ever made comments to him about you, me, your dads, or even about anyone. He probably has no idea. But if you want to talk to him about it, I'm sure you can." Olivia told her.

Natalie sighed. "I suppose you're right. Maybe I will." She said, giving in.

Footsteps sounded, coming near them, and Annabella turned to see Tommy jogging up to them. He sat down next to her, facing Via and Natalie.

"Sorry I'm late, what did I miss?" The curly haired boy asked.

Via smirked. "Oh not much, just talking to Bella about her new boyfriend." She said smugly.

Tommy's expression fell slightly as he turned to Annabella. "What do they mean? I didn't know you were dating anyone." He said, unable to hide the disappointment from his voice.

Natalie elbowed Via harshly in the side, glaring at her because of what she did to Tommy.

Annabella furrowed her brow. _Why did Tommy care?_ She wondered to herself, before answering her friend.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to them, I'm not dating anyone. They were just joking about something going on between me and James, although I've only spoken to him a couple times, and can't stand him."

Tommy's expression lifted back up, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. "Oh, okay. I don't like him much either." He agreed.

"I thought you two were friends?" She asked him.

Tommy shrugged. "Eh, not really. More acquaintances, I suppose."

"If you say so," Annabella replied. "I should get going though, I've got to work on my charms paper. Haven't even started it yet."

She threw an arm around Tommy's shoulders and pulled him in, hugging him goodbye. She wiggled her fingers at Olivia and Natalie, as she stood up and started walking back to the castle.

"Bella, you are _so_ oblivious to everything." Olivia called out after her.

Annabella turned back, confused, as she noticed Natalie whacking Olivia's arm and Tommy ducking his face towards the ground, cheeks aflame.

"What?" She asked.

"Never mind." Olivia sulked. " _It's not my place_ ," she said in a whiny voice, most likely mocking her girlfriend.

"Okay..." Annabella said, clearly still confused, as she made her way back to the Ravenclaw dorms to start her paper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed! So sorry for the wait. Don’t be shy, let me know what you think of the chapter!


	5. transfiguration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry i missed yesterday!

Professor Clearwater folded her hands in front of the classroom, waiting for the chatter to stop. James hadn't noticed, and was still talking away to his friends.

"Transfiguration is so bloody easy, I don't see why we have to take it," Charlie was complaining.

"Easy? You get detention all the time for not doing your homework!" James exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's a waste of my time because it's too simple." Charlie waved it off.

"Everyone knows that transfiguration is  _not_ simple, mate." James scolded.

Someone cleared their throat, finally getting the class to quiet down.

"Thank you, Miss White." The teacher thanked Annabella.

James rolled his eyes. "Course it was her to quiet the class down, teachers pet." He grumbled.

"Do you have something you want to say to the class, Mr. Potter?" Professor Clearwater asked. "No? That's what I thought." She added on when James said nothing.

"Since many of you have fallen behind in your studies, and are refusing to turn in homework," the teacher began, looking right at Charlie, "today is going to be a somewhat simple day. You would have practiced this years prior, it's just to let me know that you're still practicing and are able to keep up with the class. You're going to be turning your desk into a dog, nonverbally."

Murmurs of excitement sounded throughout the room, at the thought of an easy day and getting to deal with dogs.

Charlie groaned, and put his head in his hands. "What makes her think I can do  _that._ "

"But Charlie, we've done it before, and since what we're doing now is  _so_ simple to you, surely you should be able to do it without a struggle!" James mocked.

Charlie rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

"Boys and girls, quiet down. After you successfully transfigure your desk into a dog and back, you will right one foot of parchment  
on what we did today and why." The professor added.

"What we did today and why? We transfigured a desk into a dog because she thinks we're too daft to move on and do anything in our year level!" Noah quipped.

"Come on mate, just get started." Grant muttered.

James picked his wand up and stared at his desk, unable to remember how to move his wand to complete the spell. He looked to the desk diagonal from him and stole a glance at Annabella to see how she was doing it.

He noticed that when she was concentrating, she stuck her tongue out slightly and tucked her hair behind her ears.

"Mate, stop staring at Bella." Grant said, and nudged him.

James startled and looked over at Grant, to see that the slightly taller boy had a small smile on his face.

"Shut up." James grumbled.

"I didn't even say anything." Grant said, putting his hands up to show his innocence.

"I was just trying to see the wand motions." James defended, and stole another glance at her. She watched her nonverbally do the spell with a small swish and flick of her wrist, and suddenly a barking filled the room.

Annabella smiled proudly down at the dog, and gave it a little pat on its head before she repeated the spell, and suddenly her desk was before her again.

"Good job Miss White, keep up the good work." Professor Clearwater told her proudly.

James placed his attention back on his own desk, and did the spell. He blinked, confused as nothing happened.

People around him had already started to complete the task successfully, even Charlie had managed to at least sprout a tail from his desk.

James frowned, and kept attempting to make his desk into a dog, but it wasn't working. Frustrated, he sighed.

Annabella's attention was caught as he sighed unhappily, and she turned around to see him looking downhearted and embarrassed at his desk.

Today was a simple day, revisiting past lessons. James should've been able to do it.

He heard footsteps nearing him and he looked up, surprised to see Annabella looking at him hesitantly.

"Do you need help?" She offered.

"Why would he want help from the likes of you," Charlie sneered.

Annabella's face turned hard, and she looked at Charlie with steely eyes. "I wasn't asking you, please don't speak to me." She chastised, before turning back to James with a slightly softer expression.

James nodded, his cheeks flushing a light pink of embarrassment. "Yeah, sorry. When I try it, nothing happens. I dunno what I'm doing wrong."

"Show me what you're doing." Annabella said.

James nodded, and looked determined at his desk, and flicking, then swishing his wand. Nothing happened.

"Oh, okay! I see what you're doing," she began. "It's not a flick and swish, it's more of a swish and flick. You just got the order wrong, here, watch."

Annabella preformed the spell slowly for James to see, and then transfigured the desk back to its original state.

"Now you try." She told him.

James nodded, casting the spell in the way she told him too. Next thing he knew, a dog around the size of his desk was staring back at him, wagging its tail.

"Now transfigure it back." Bella told him.

James poured. "But what if I want to keep the dog?"

Annabella rolled her eyes. "That's not the point of today's lesson, James. Come on now."

James sighed, and transfigured the desk back in the way she taught him.

Annabella beamed proudly at him. "There you go! You did it." She said, patting his arm. "I've got to get back to my desk now to write the paper, I'll see you around James."

James stared confusedly at her as she left, and then turned to Grant.

"Mate, what just happened? She nearly killed me the other day? And now she's helping me?" He questioned.

"Ah, she wouldn't have killed you. I think she sort of wouldn't mind being your friend, and just doesn't want to admit it." Grant suggested.

James shrugged. "You know her better than me." He gave in, before turning back to his desk.

Feeling eyes on him, he looked up to see a Ravenclaw boy with curly brown hair regarding him with a glare. When the boy was caught, he turned his gaze away quickly.

James nudged Grant. "Who's that boy over there?"

"That's Tommy, Bella's friend. He's sort of in love with her though, but she doesn't realize." Grant informed him.

"Oh, okay." James said, suddenly feeling something uncomfortable tugging at his heart.

He didn't know why, but James didn't like that, not one bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed the chapter, let me know your thoughts!


	6. confused

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry i'm a couple days late!

Annabella was sitting in the Ravenclaw common room with a sketchbook opened in front of her, her mind blank. The couch dipped down beside her and she turned to see who it was.

She smiled at the curly haired boy. "Hey Tommy."

Tommy nodded at her paper. "What're you gonna draw?"

"Not sure, if I'm being honest. Can't think of any inspiration." She admitted quietly.

Tommy nodded, then furrowed his brow. "Is something bothering you?"

Annabella lifted one shoulder in a half hearted shrug. "I don't know," she confessed, leaning backwards to rest against the couch.

"I just...I helped James in transfiguration the other day, which isn't a big deal." She began. "But he was actually almost, bearable for once. He wasn't a prick. He was nice. Which made me think he isn't that bad to hang around, considering he seems to want to be my friend. But then his friends are  _so_ awful, that I feel he  _has_ to be like them. I mean, they're really the only people he hangs out with. But then part of me things it could be kind of fun to get to know James. But I don't know." Annabella admitted to Tommy. "What a bloody good Ravenclaw I am, can't even make a good judge of character on someone." She looked over at the boy when she finished speaking.

Tommy nodded slowly, as if he was thinking over what she said. But she noted that there was a bitter look in his eyes, but it disappeared when he redirected his gaze onto her.

"I can't really say either, Bella. I think that's for you to decide. But the situation, it's not really as life or death as you make it to seem. Either you become his friend or not. The world will still turn either way. Maybe he's like his friends, maybe he's not." Tommy told her. "I say if you want to, then go for it." He finished, with a sadder tone to his voice.

Annabella smiled slightly. "Thanks Tommy."

"Anytime. But now raises the question, what are you going to draw?" Tommy asked, smirking.

Annabella thought for a moment. "Hmm...how about I draw you?"

Tommy smiled. "Okay, how should I pose?" He joked, standing up from the couch and putting a hand on his hip and the other up in the air.

Annabella giggled. "Not like that. Just sit down, I want to do a portrait."

Tommy nodded and sat down in front of her.

"And remember, no looking until I'm finished, okay?" Annabella reminded him.

Tommy flashed a thumbs up.

Annabella first started with the outline. His head, then his neck and shoulders. Her pencil flowed smoothly over the paper.

She then moved onto his hair, capturing the way it fell down into where his eyes would be, once she drew them.

She found herself looking up less and less as a visual guide to draw him, her hand and pencil just seemed to know where it was going.

"Bella," Tommy interjected, breaking her concentration. She looked up, to see Via and Natalie standing next to him. She hasn't even realized they were there.

"Do you think I can go help them with something? I can come back if you need," Tommy asked.

Annabella shook her head. "No, that's okay. I already know what you look like. I can finish it from memory."

Tommy nodded and waved bye, as Natalie smiled at her and Via nudged Tommy with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes. Bella would never understand her friends.

She finished up her drawing on Tommy a little while later, after the shading was done. She held it back from her a bit and frowned when she saw it.

It looked nothing like Tommy. Normally her drawing was nearly spot on, especially if she was able to look at her subject for most of it.

But this portrait—somehow—it ended up looking more like James. It made her wonder if she was even drawing Tommy from the start, if somehow subconsciously she was drawing James. Because the two didn't resemble each other at all.

Yet the portrait was clearly of James. His ruffled hair, the gleam in his eyes, his playful smirk and sharp jawline.

Annabella cleared her throat and weakly shut her sketch book.

No one was going to see that picture. No one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed! let me know your thoughts!


	7. sure?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry i haven’t updated in so long !! i’m going to get back to the regular schedule soon

Herbology.

One of James's least favorite classes, spent sitting by one of his least favorite people.

The oh so smart and irritating Annabella White.

They weren't doing any hands on work today. Today, they were writing on what they did last class. One and a half feet of parchment was due by the next time they had class. James glanced over at Annabella's parchment and noticed she already had a good bit written. He looked back at his own to see his one measly sentence looking back at him.

James groaned and lifted his quill, getting ready to place it down on the paper and scribble out another sentence.

The thing is, James knew what they did last class, and he knew why. What he didn't know, was how to write it down and make it long enough to cover the essay requirements.

He set his quill down, frustrated. "I'll finish it later," he mumbled to himself.

From the corner of his eye, he could see that Annabella's gaze was now on him, questioning. He sighed.

"Yeah? What do you want?" He muttered.

Annabella hesitantly opened her mouth, but then closed it again as if she wasn't sure if she wanted to go through with what she was about to say.

"I haven't got all day, what is it?" James snapped, and she flinched. Immediately, James regretted his tone. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I'm just right frustrated."

Annabella nodded. "I was just wondering—you know, since we're partners and all—if maybe you wanted to work on the paper later? It seems as if you're a bit frustrated, and I could use some more ideas on mine, so maybe we could figure out together?" She rambled nervously.

James's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Oh, okay. Sure?" He questioned, wondering if her proposition was actually legitimate.

She nodded, and hesitated as if she was going to say something else, before turning back to her own paper.

Suddenly, James had an idea. Smirking, he said Annabella's name. "I have one condition though. I'll agree to work with you on the paper, if you let me call you Bella?"

Annabella sighed, and smiled slightly. "Sure, I suppose you can call me Bella."

James beamed triumphantly.

~~~

Annabella waited anxiously at the top of the Astronomy Tower with her books sitting next to her. She wasn't sure what compelled her to ask James to study with her and work on the paper, but she did. And then she had gone as far to let him call her Bella.

Maybe she did that because she hadn't been feeling herself lately. Or maybe it's because of how lonely she's been.

Olivia and Natalie were always off with each other, which was fine. They were dating after all. But they were also Annabella's only close friends, except for Tommy. But even Tommy had his guy friends he was always hanging out with, and that left her with no one.

And it was her fault, it really was. Her parents always did tell her she was too annoying and brash, and although she never really saw herself as that way—at least as brash—others must, or they wouldn't constantly tell her that.

Annabella sighed, and bit her lip anxiously. Maybe James wasn't going to show.

He was already late, she realized. But maybe it wasn't _late_. Perhaps he just wasn't going to show. Annabella decided it was the latter, and quickly gathered her things to leave the tower.

Just as she was stepping through the door, she bumped into someone who was taller than her.

"Bella?" He questioned.

"Oh, James." She greeted, embarrassed.

"Where are you going?" He asked, confused.

"I—you were late—and then I thought that maybe you weren't going to show." She admitted quietly, as she backed into the room, not looking him in the eye.

"Why would I not come? I said I was going to."

She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I thought maybe you would've changed your mind."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I'm annoying? And kind of rude sometimes." She answered, and her face flushed. _Why was she telling him this?_

James shook his head. "No, you aren't. I was late because Noah and Charlie got in a brawl and as much as I hate them sometimes, I had to break it up before they killed each other."

Annabella smiled half heartedly. "Oh, okay. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry. But why are you acting like this? You don't _really_ think that people find you annoying, do you?" James questioned her.

She thought a moment before nodding.

"Why?" He asked her.

Bella shrugged. "My parents say I am. And Olivia and Natalie are always hanging out alone instead of with me, and Tommy has other friends he'd rather hang out with. Sometimes even the three of them hang out without me. Like the other day," she remembered. "Tommy had been hanging with me for once, but then Via and Nat pulled him away, and not me. And I mean I understand. Via and Nat are dating, and Tommy is a guy who'd rather hang with guy friends. It just hurts sometimes, because they're my _only_ friends. I don't have anyone else to talk to like they do." She confessed.

James furrowed his brow, and shook his head. "Well, you aren't annoying. Your parents are right shit for telling you that, no offense to them. And I don't think your friends think of you like that. I think that Natalie and Olivia maybe want alone time and don't realize how much of it they get and how alone you are, and Tommy's a guy. All guys are stupid, I would know. And as for the three of them hanging out without you...I think that's for a different reason then you're thinking."

Annabella looked at him, confused. "What reason?"

"You really haven't picked up on it?"

She shook her head.

"Alright. Tommy has a thing for you, and I think Olivia and Natalie talk to him about it and try to get him to man up and do something about it." James informed her.

Annabella looked at him. "Are you feeling alright? Tommy doesn't like me."

James nodded. "Trust me, he does. He's always gazing at you like some love sick puppy, and when you helped me in transfiguration the other day, he was glaring at me."

Annabella shrugged. "Maybe he just doesn't like you?"

"I know he doesn't. But thats why. Because he likes you, and seems to think I'm a threat." James said.

Annabella shook her head. "No he...no he doesn't," she protested weakly.

James just looked at her.

"But he can't! I don't like him like that. Oh no, that would make things so awkward if he pursued me and I rejected him!" She exclaimed. "Oh god."

James laughed at Bella's reaction.

"It's not funny James!"

"Well, it kind of is."

"I hate you." She grumbled, and crossed her arms.

James shrugged. "The feeling is mutual, _Bella_."

She sighed, and then jumped slightly. "Oh Merlin! We've been up here forever and didn't even work on the paper!" She cried, and pulled her parchment out as James did the same.

James eyed her paper suspiciously. "Did you even need help like you claimed? It looks as if you're almost done."

Annabella's cheeks burned. "I mean, I could use a bit of help, maybe. But I...you just looked like you needed more help, and I didn't really want to spend another evening alone." She admitted. "I'm sorry."

James smiled over at her softly. "What are you apologizing for?"

She shrugged.

"Well, then come over here and help me with my paper. Because I have no idea what I'm going to write, and it's going to take a while." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you enjoyed the chapter !!

**Author's Note:**

> Leave kudos and comment!!


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